Tame Me. Caroline Cross

Cooper gave him a faux-wounded look. “You could’ve just said no.”

      “Like you’ve ever let that word stop you? Give me a break.” Leaning over, he planted his hands on his brother’s desk. “And as much as I’d love to share my innermost feelings, hear all about your and Dom’s riveting take on my love life—” with each word his voice acquired a little more bite “—it’s after six and I have plans for tonight. So what do you say you just tell me what I want to know, and we leave the rest for another time? Say, the next time you girls have a slumber party?”

      Cooper made a reproachful face. “No need to get surly.”

      Silent, Gabe continued to stare down at him.

      “Okay, okay,” he said hastily, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Here goes. Up until six months ago, our subject was holed up at the family estate, even though the staff had been let go months before that. Then, when the Feds finally came in, seized everything and locked the place down, she checked into the Markham Plaza. She was there for several weeks, until her credit card was declined and they found out it was no mistake. Word is she tried to make good with a check, but it bounced, too, and the management not so kindly asked her to leave.”

      Straightening, he consulted his computer monitor. “Her credit report shows two different apartment management firms checked her history the following week. Considering that she had an extensive collection of plastic, but that every single card was closed due to late or no payments, several with substantial balances, I’m guessing they passed on renting to her.”

      Considering where she’d wound up living, Gabe imagined he was right.

      “The interesting thing is, except for a small portion of one account, everything else was paid off a few weeks later. And she was making the bare-bones payment on that last outstanding debt until roughly sixty days ago, when she also started to fall behind on her rent.”

      Gabe frowned, trying to make sense of it. “What about bank accounts?” he asked, pushing upright and starting to pace.

      “Checking account was closed due to overdrafts. Nothing else popped, but then I didn’t have enough time to do much more than skim the surface. Does it matter?”

      “Probably not. It’s just that I thought—” incorrectly, it appeared, although it was still the main reason he hadn’t seen fit to check up on her before “—she had a trust fund, a substantial one. She says it’s long gone.”

      Cooper frowned. “You don’t believe her?”

      “I didn’t say that. But I want to be sure.” Despite the overwhelming evidence that Mallory was operating without a safety net, this time around he wasn’t assuming anything.

      “I’ll have another look.”

      “Thanks.”

      “Anything else?”

      “No. I’d say that does it for now.”

      Cooper drummed his fingers on the desk. “I take it that means you’re not done with Mallory? Even though, from the sound of things, she ranks you somewhere below foot fungus on the list of things she could live without?”

      “What’s your point, Coop? Assuming you have one?”

      “I do.” Never shy about stating his opinion, he met Gabe’s narrow stare straight on. “Look, I know how committed you are, not just to making this business a success, but to doing your best to ensure that the work we all do matters. That whenever possible, we do what we can to make peoples’ lives safer and better.

      “Because of that, I think you need a reminder that no matter what this woman said to you, no matter how hard she may have tried to guilt trip you, she’s not your responsibility—and you definitely don’t owe her anything.”

      “Believe me.” Gabe smiled sardonically. “That’s not the problem here.”

      Cooper looked surprised. “No? Then what—”

      “Leave it alone, little brother. I appreciate your concern, but I’ve been successfully conducting my own affairs for a whole lot of years now. If I decide I need help, from you or the rest of the family, I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime—” shooting his cuff, he glanced at his wristwatch “—the clock is ticking and I’m sure I’ve got a stack of things to take care of before I can get out of here.”

      “That’s it? You’re just going to walk?”

      “Pretty much.” Reaching down, he snagged his coat off the chair and deliberately steered the conversation in a different direction. “You going out to Taggart and Gen’s for dinner tomorrow?”

      To his credit, Cooper knew when to throw in the towel. “Are you kidding? Free, home-cooked meal along with Rockies Cactus League ball on the tube?” He sat back and again propped his feet up. “I’m there. What about you?”

      “Yeah, I’m in, too.” He headed toward the door. “You want to share a ride?”

      “Sure.”

      “I’ll call you tomorrow, we can hash out the details.” Reaching the doorway, he paused. “Hey, Coop?”

      “What?”

      “Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.”

      “Easy for you to say,” the younger man groused, but without any heat. “You’re not the one left hanging.”

      “I think you’ll survive,” he said drily. And with that, he headed down the hall toward his own office and what was sure to be a fat folder of items needing his attention, reassured by the knowledge that Cooper’s bad temper wouldn’t last past the next five minutes.

      Knowing as well that while his brother’s concern for him had been misplaced, the younger Steele had been right about one thing.

      Gabe wasn’t done with Mallory. Not by a long shot.